A Family Affair
by tin2lo
Summary: Zutara/Irosami. In which Izumi and Kya are the daughters of Zuko and Katara. In the midst of Prince Wu's coronation, Zuko and Kya have a chat with Izumi about what it means to be a mother to a man like Iroh especially when he finds his own love in life.


**AN: It's been a while since I've written anything for this fandom so I'm a little rusty but this is still exciting. If you know me, you'll know I'm a major Zutara shipper (which I recently learned so are Dante Basco and Mae Whitman, score). But I'm also an Irosami shipper (Iroh is by far my favorite character) in the Korra realm. So why not combine the two in a fic? The characters are still the same just their lineage is different. Here Kya and Izumi are sisters while Tenzin, Bumi, and the Beifong girls are kids of Toph and Aang. Or maybe not even considering how much I love the interaction between Toph and her daughters.**

 **This takes place at some point before Prince Wu's coronation.**

 **Disclaimer: Mike, Bryan, and Nickelodeon own Avatar both Last Airbender and Legend of Korra as well as the characters and events associated with it.**

Zuko hadn't been this happy in a long time. For the first time in a very long time he had both of his daughters together in one place. With his eldest daughter being the Fire Lord and his younger daughter learning his wife's healing trade in the South Pole, it wasn't easy to get together.

But Zuko knew what he was getting into. When he abdicated his throne to Izumi, he accepted that both of his girls had grown up. Izumi, headstrong and commanding, grew up knowing she wanted to help her people. She would take care of the nation. Kya, his free spirited waterbender, grew up wanting to heal people just like their mother. So when Izumi took the throne he and Katara agreed that she would take Kya back to the South Pole and expand on her healing training. Zuko would've gone with them but he wasn't going to leave Izumi in the Fire Nation alone.

It had been a rough couple of years. He didn't want to watch his younger daughter and wife leave but he needed to. If the 100 year war taught him anything, it's that sometimes you need to leave home to find your own destiny. When Katara knew Kya was ready, she would retire with him back to their home on Ember Island.

When the Water Tribe civil war broke out, Zuko had half a mind to take both of his girls back to the Fire Nation. But Katara had forced him to stay put. She was, as she put it, "too old to be getting involved in that." Despite being too old, she was still a master waterbender too. She could handle herself. Then the prison break occurred and Zuko was forced to leave the Fire Nation to help track Zaheer. As stressful as that was, he couldn't say he hated the entirety of it. Kya had come back to help so at the very least he had her for a time being.

But now with all of that put behind them, he and his two girls were reunited in Republic City. Unfortunately someone needed to stay behind in the South Pole to run the healing hut as well as the southern portion of the White Lotus in which case Zuko would have to wait a little longer to be reunited with his wife. But he had his daughters which was good enough for him.

Kya had just joined them in their shared hotel suite. The greetings with other officials had finally ceased, their bags had been settled, and Zuko had brewed the tea. Zuko was ready to finally catch up with his daughters. That is until there was a knock on the door.

All three royals wanted to ignore it, but being royals they couldn't be that immature. So they sighed as Izumi answered in her regal tone. "Enter."

A council messenger entered their suite and bowed to them. "Pardon the interruption but President Raiko and Councilman Tenzin request your presence, Lord Zuko" the messenger said as he stood straight.

Zuko let out another sigh. "Very well…" He looked at the sad expression on his daughters' faces. "I'll be back in a moment. Catch up without me."

The two sisters looked at each other as the door closed. "And just when I thought the family could be together again." Kya said with a pout.

Izumi lifted her cup of tea to sip. "Well maybe you and mom should visit more often…"

Kya shook her head. "She's the best healer in the world. She's needed down there. And until she's ready to pass it all down to me, she won't leave the pole. And what about you? Think you can take a break from the Fire Nation and visit us down south?"

Izumi sighed. "It was hard enough leaving to come here. Not sure how the country would fare if I took a longer break to visit the South Pole."

Kya rolled her eyes. "Oh please. If your son can extend his stay at Republic City long enough to find himself a girlfriend…I'm pretty sure you can take some time off to visit mom."

Izumi nearly choked on her tea. "Wait, what?!"

Kya's smirked at Izumi's normally composed self turn flustered. "You heard right, big sister. Someone's finally caught the eye of our hardworking general."

"Well who?!" Izumi was still shocked at the idea of her son taking interest in someone.

"Asami Sato of Future Industries."

Izumi's eyes widened. "Wasn't her father part of that Equalist revolution?"

"Come now, Izumi. We of all people should know better than to judge someone based on their family history." Kya said calmly as she sipped her tea.

Izumi sighed knowing Kya was right. Three generations of Fire Lords had sought after world domination and threw the world out of balance for over a century. The scar on their father's face was testament enough of how screwed up that side of the family had been. No no, they were definitely in no position to judge someone else based on family history. A lesson both their parents drilled into them from a young age.

"So…how is she?" Izumi asked nervously. The Fire Lord wasn't quite sure how to feel about this woman who supposedly captured her son's heart.

Kya just shrugged. "I like her. She's strong willed, independent, and tough as nails. She kind of reminds me of mom." Kya let out a soft laugh. "I guess that could be why mom likes her."

Izumi was even more shocked. "Mom knows? How did mom know before me?"

"Well mom met Asami in the South Pole a while ago, when they thought Korra lost her bending. She liked her then, she likes her now."

Izumi sighed once more. "So I'm guessing if mom knows, so does dad."

Kya nodded. "Of course. The amount of messages those two send each other would put the United Forces communications team to shame."

"How could dad not tell me this?" The amount of time Izumi spent with her father as council, surely he would've brought something like this up.

Kya shrugged. "Maybe he thought you'd already know." Izumi put her face in her hands trying to contemplate what she was hearing. "If it makes you feel better, dad likes her too."

Izumi put her hands down and looked at her sister. "Oh really? And what makes you say that?"

"Because dad actually got to see them together. He says Iroh is happier when he's near her and she's just the same. Besides, during that Equalist revolution, she turned her back on her family to do the right thing. Sound familiar?"

For once, Izumi smiled. "Figures." She took a sip of her tea and took a moment to calm down and think things through. "So what now, little sister?

Kya just shrugged, not really worried for her nephew. "I think you forget he's a grown man. He can take care of himself."

In truth, Izumi wasn't worried about her son. Iroh was a brave man, a talented firebender, and he had a good heart. She was proud of the man he had become. Not only was he the youngest general in United Forces history, but he was already proving himself to be a good and worthy Fire Lord after her. No it wasn't Iroh Izumi was worried about, it was this girl. Family history aside, what was she like? What had she done? And what was she after?

It wasn't always easy finding a suitor for her son. Being royalty, women flocked their way to the palace always hoping to catch the eye of the crown prince in hopes of being the next Fire Lady. Many would've been advantageous matches but she wanted better for Iroh. He deserved better. She wanted him to marry for love like she had and her parents before her had. Did this girl know there was a crown attached to him? And if she did, did she want it?

Not to mention he was the general of the largest naval force. He was a busy man always traveling always commanding. Would he have time for a girlfriend? Would she be willing to suffer a long distance relationship? And what if they became serious? Iroh was willing to leave the force to assume the throne when the time was right, but until then a family of his own was probably not on his mind. Would she wait that long?

"If you're done overthinking the situation, we need to meet up with dad and the other officials downstairs in a bit." Kya said with a smirk. She knew her sister. As composed as she was on the outside, Izumi was freaking out on the inside.

Izumi took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was going to have a long talk with her father later about all of this.

It had been a long day socializing with the other members of higher society. The next day would be Prince Wu's coronation which, to be honest, neither Zuko nor Izumi was looking forward to. He seemed like a headache waiting to happen. Kya, ever the free spirit, was a natural at socializing. She could talk to anyone about anything. Izumi, on the other hand, was more like her father. She was quiet and spoke when she needed to. But when she did she was ever the charismatic leader. Izumi didn't always enjoy this part of being a ruler, but it was definitely one of the easier parts.

When it was all over, Izumi was the first to retire back to their suite. She was tired but there was much on her mind and none of it was regarding the coronation the next day. She stared out her hotel window thinking over her earlier conversation with Kya. Izumi was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed when someone else entered the room.

"Yuan for your thoughts?" Izumi turned to see her dad with a small smile on his face. Zuko had softened much after the war had ended. Specifically after he and Katara had officially began their courtship. He wasn't the brooding, angsty teenager he was before he was crowned Fire Lord. And when he was with his family, he was even more affectionate and caring.

"I'm just tired, dad."

Zuko nodded knowing that she was lying. Zuko went to stand next his eldest daughter and stare out the window with her. He knew she wasn't going to bring it up herself and he didn't want to press her but he didn't want to leave it at that either. "Did I ever tell you the story of when I gave your mother her betrothal necklace?"

Izumi turned her head to look at her father. She wasn't exactly quite sure where that had come from but it was a topic change. "Not since we were little."

"Then let me remind you, for old times' sake." She had a small smile as she continued to watch her dad stare out the window. "Carving betrothal necklaces are a Water Tribe custom and to show how serious I was about marrying your mother, I did just that. It wasn't easy to do nor design but I was proud of what I had made and I was sure your mother would love it. I designed it to be a combination of both of our nations."

"She loved it."

Zuko nodded and smiled at the memory. "She did. But it took her quite a while to accept the idea of wearing it."

Izumi was curious now. Zuko had never told her this part of the story. "Why?" Zuko didn't say anything. Instead he waited for Izumi to figure it out herself. It didn't take long. "Gran gran's necklace."

He nodded, confirming her guess. "Your mother was afraid to let go."

"So what happened?" Izumi could remember Katara wearing the betrothal necklace Zuko made her. Obviously he had to have convinced her at some point.

"I made her a promise. I told her that we would name our first daughter after her mother. To keep her legacy alive."

Izumi was even more confused at this point. She was their eldest child, their eldest daughter. And yet it was her younger sister who held the name Kya.

Zuko looked her in the eye and answered her unasked question with a smile. "We were so happy when you were born. The spirits could not have blessed us anymore in that moment. As your mother held you, she felt your warmth and just knew. You would become a strong firebender and an even stronger Fire Lord. And so she looked me in the eyes and asked me to give you a different name. It was the right thing to do especially considering your sister is all Water Tribe. Sometimes I wonder if I helped at all in her birth."

Izumi snickered at his joke. She hadn't heard that story before but she was glad he told her. She knew exactly what he was trying to tell her. She needed to trust her own instincts. Just like her own mother when Katara named her. "I'm not sure why I feel this way, daddy. It's not like Iroh hasn't had his fair share of women around him. Why do I feel…afraid?"

Zuko sighed and thought hard about his answer to her. He was proud of her though, for admitting her fear. He had made sure to teach his girls that fear was not weakness. "You are the mother of a nation. But sometimes you forget that you are also just mother to a son and daughter. Iroh was born strong and has only grown stronger as a man. Because of this, you've forgotten what it's like to look at him as just your child. And now that a moment has come where another woman seeks to take him from you, you are scared because you remember that he is still your child."

Izumi closed her eyes tightly knowing Zuko was right. "Kya told me you were upset that I hadn't told you about this."

She opened her eyes to look at him. "Why didn't you?"

"This was something Iroh needed to do for himself. You needed to hear it from him. But before he could face you, he needed to know for himself how serious this relationship of his was. He needs to do this on his own and in his own time without his mother, the Fire Lord, looming over his shoulder."

Once again, he was right and Izumi knew and acknowledged that. "So what do I do now?"

Zuko looked out the window once more and rubbed his beard. "Hmm…uncle once told me that it was important to draw wisdom from many different places. I think this is one of those moments in which you take a lesson from an earthbender's book. Wait and listen. They will come to you and when you hear them, you will be able to figure out on your own what it is you need to do."

What was she going to do when her father left her for Ember Island? His council was invaluable to her. She bowed to her father. "Thank you." She didn't need to but it was a sign of respect and she didn't know how else she could express her extreme gratitude. Zuko bowed back but as soon as he straightened up, Izumi rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Zuko was surprised at first but hugged her back eagerly. His family would be fine.

It wasn't for another few months until this issue came back. A lot happened in between since the talk with her father and sister that Izumi had almost forgotten about it completely. With Kuvira trying to take over the Earth Kingdom and President Raiko asking for her to enter the war, she didn't really stop to think about her son who had his own problems.

It took a while to come back to the topic about her son and his so called girlfriend that she wasn't even sure if they were even together anymore. It wasn't until she was back in the Fire Nation that it actually came back to her.

Iroh was finally coming home for a little while and Izumi was prepared to meet him at the docks. She was surprised to see not only his men surrounding him but a beautiful woman on his arm as well. She took a deep breath and remembered her father's words: wait and listen.

Izumi composed herself quickly like a true royal as they approached her. She held her arms open for Iroh which he was happy to give in to her hug. "It's good to see you again, mother."

As she let go of her son, he backed away a bit to stand next to the woman again. "Mother I would like to introduce you to the owner of Future Industries, Asami Sato. She will be spending the holiday with us."

Izumi looked at the girl who humbly bowed to her. "It is an honor to meet you, Fire Lord Izumi." Izumi immediately noticed that this girl didn't just give her a normal bow. She had placed her hands in a way that was only customary in the Fire Nation to show her great respect to the leader of it. And when she spoke, Izumi could tell that this girl was special.

Izumi smiled and gave a similar bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. Please, call me Izumi." She said as she straightened up. Izumi noticed the tension release from the girl's shoulders as Izumi welcomed her. Asami then looked to Iroh who had a bright smile on his face at their meeting.

Oh yes, this girl was special. As a mother, she knew now the feeling of fear in her stomach was for not. Her son would be just fine.


End file.
